their wanting Provisions, is the great quantity consumed in the Fishery—and that so many men are employed in the Fisheries that there are not enough left at home to cultivate the land, but if not employed in the Fishery, might, in time, be able to raise more Provisions; that if the people of the Continent would or could send them Provisions they would have no money to pay for them if the Fishery was stopped, but if it is not stopped they could pay for them; that there are many Sheep raised on the Island of Nantucket; that considerable quantities of Oats and Indian Corn are sent from Massachusetts Bay to the West Indies.

He was directed to withdraw.

Then Mr. Brook Watson was called in, and, being sworn, acquainted the House "That he was an American Merchant, and well acquainted with the Fisheries in North America; that he had been examined at the bar of the House of Commons on that subject; that in his passage to North America, in 1766, he made out a state of the American Fishery in 1764; which state he carefully corrected from the best information on his arrival in North America;" and then produced the said state, being the same he had produced at the bar of the House of Commons. He then read the said state at the bar, and afterwards delivered the same in to the House.

"State of the Exports from Great Britain to, and Fisheries of North America, in 1764."

He then acquainted the House "That the American Fisheries were much increased since the year 1764; that remittances were received for American Fish from Spain, Portugal, and Russia; that large quantities of New England Rum are sent to Quebec, for which they return Money, Bills of Exchange on Merchants in London, and some Wheat; that it was too copious a subject for him to enter into a detail of the general state of trade between Great Britain and America; that his account of the Exports from Great Britain to America, was made up about the time of passing the Stamp Act; that a Committee of Merchants being appointed to draw up a state of the then trade between Great Britain and America, each Merchant wrote the amount of his exportation from Great Britain upon a piece of paper, but did not sign his name to it, and put it into a box, and the whole amount is specified in the paper he had delivered in, or as near as could be; that the Merchants here generally delivered at the Custom House an invoice of one third more than is really shipped, and that no Officer of the Customs can make an exact estimate of what is exported to America; that the people of North Carolina cannot afford to clothe themselves so well as those of the other Provinces; that he never was at the Island of Nantucket, hut that he knows there is a trade carried on from there in Fish; that four of the Provinces in, New England do not raise Bread sufficient for their own consumption, and that he has known great quantities of Bread sent to Boston from London and New-York; that he does not know, of any immediate substitute for Bread the people of Nantucket could eat; that if the Fishery is stopped, the men employed in it cannot turn their hands to any other business; that the restraint upon the Nantucket Whale Fishery is taken off by a clause in the Bill; that he don't know if any other persons are concerned with them in their Fishing Ships; that they have all the materials for building their Ships from England, except Timber; that the indulgence given by the Bill to the people of Nantucket, he fears, will be of little consequence to them; that the Americans pay for the Goods from Great Britain by the profits of their Fisheries, and by the money they get for the Ships which they build in America, and load with Goods, for the West Indies, where they receive Sugars for their Goods, Which they bring to Great Britain, where they and the Ships are sold; that if the Bill passes the Americans cannot make any returns to Great Britain for Goods, nor pay the debts they now owe; that the Merchants in London are not concerned in the properly of the American Fisheries; that the people of Nantucket cannot be supplied with Flour from Quebec, because at Quebec they hare only a number of Mills sufficient to grind Corn for themselves, but that they may have a supply from other Provinces; that the weather is so severe at Quebec they the Mills cannot work above seven months in the year; that he can't tell, if the other Provinces in America should return to their allegiance, whether this Bill would affect Nantucket; that, by this Bill, the people of one Province being made answerable for another, Nantucket will not receive her usual supply of sustenance; that though the inhabitants of Nantucket are the obedient subjects to the laws of this country, and are, and have been, acting with all possible precaution, yet they must suffer on the account of others who may be refractory."

He was directed to withdraw.

Then Mr. Benjamin Lyster was called in, and, being sworn, acquainted the House "That he was a Merchant Adventurer in the Newfoundland Fishery for thirty-eight years; that he goes to Newfoundland every Summer, and is a large dealer in that trade; that he thinks, that if the American Fishery was stopped, the foreign markets might be supplied with Fish from Great Britain alone in future, and in part this year; that the principal Ports in England from whence the Newfoundland Fisheries are carried on, are Poole and Dorset*; that four hundred sail are sent from Great Britain, the tonnage of which amounts to thirty-six thousand tons, and two thousand Shallops, making twenty thousand tons more; that twenty thousand men are employed, twelve thousand of which return to Great Britain and Ireland; that they are obliged to carry out every year one man in every five, who is what they call a green man, or one who has never been at Sea before, by which means the British Fishery raises three thousand fresh Seamen every year; that they catch about six hundred thousand quintals of Cod Fish, which, for about seven years, has sold at fourteen Shillings the quintal; that the quantity of Salmon caught amounts to about three thousand tierces, at six Shillings and five Pence the tierce—quantity of Cod Oil, three thousand tons, at twenty-three Pounds per ton—Seal Oil, eight hundred tons, at twenty-five Pounds per ton; that they get few Seal Skins, the duty upon them here being so high as to be almost a prohibition of the importation of them, but the New England people are exempted from the payment of any duty upon them; that the returns from abroad for the produce of the British Fishery is made in raw materials, Barills,† Oil, and some Specie; that the nett produce of the British Fishery amounts, to about five hundred thousand Pounds, all which centres in Great Britain; that all the materials of the Ships employed in this Fishery are bought in Great Britain; that the greatest part of the profits arising from the American Fishery, centres in America; that in war-time the British Fishery is not carried on with the same advantage as the New England Fishery, as the New England Fishermen are exempted, by Act of Parliament, from being pressed, which the British Fishermen are not; that the Act of King William does not prevent the Americans from fishing; on the banks of Newfoundland, but only from drying their Fish on shore; that he does not know if the whole Fishery, including the Whale Fishery, could be carried on by Great Britain only; that the Newfoundland Fishery carried on from Great Britain is the beneficial nursery for Seamen; that he would not have the Fishery confined only to the Ports of Poole and Dartmouth, but would have it confined to Great Britain only; that if the American Fishery was stopped, other places in Great Britain besides Poole and Dorset‡ would engage in it; that the French would gab no share in it more than they have, as their Fisheries are bounded; that it would increase the number of British and Irish Fishing Vessels, and consequently increase the number of British Seamen; that the best dried Fish are best for the markets, and there are different markets for all the different sorts of Fish—the Italian market is for small Fish; that, in time, the British Fishermen would be able to equal the New England Fishermen in curing Fish for the Bilboa market; that in 1773 there was more Fish caught than was wanted, and that the markets were glutted; that England can supply half of the Fish for the American markets this year; that the French can only supply themselves; that he cannot tell whether New England can sell Fish cheaper than Great Britain, but that they can afford to sell it cheaper; whoever comes first to the banks has the right of drying; that if New England was restrained forever from this Fishery it would be a benefit to Great Britain; that he buys three hundred

* Sic; it should be Dartmouth.

† Sic; it should probably be Barilla.

‡ Sic; it should be Dartmouth.